Three Words I Never Thought I'd Say

"Thank you Tyra!"

I was watching the newest "America's Next Top Model" (hereafter referred to as ANTM) and before I go any further let me just say I don't watch it for the drama, Tyra's latest pants suit from the future, or the J's. I watch it for, and typically fast forward to, the photo shoots to see the behind the scenes of hair, makeup, wardrobe, shoot locations, photography, and the finished product. It's always interesting to see who gets the boot, and in this first elimination I was actually pleasantly surprised at the judge's decision. Let me explain for those who do not what the show (namely you guys out there).

As the new housemate models were getting to know each other a couple of girls were discussing another girl's thin frame. I believe that this girl's name was AnnaMarie or something like that. So Anna says something about having been "thicker" before, and that her Mom is always encouraging her to gain a little weight. The other girls ask Anna "How much did you weight?", Anna replies, "When I was thick I was 130 pounds". The girls ask, "How much do you weight now?", Anna replies, "I'm about 110 pounds." To which MY reply was, "WTF!! Are you serious??"

Anna explained that she had to be on a strict low calorie diet in order to maintain the weight she liked (being 110 lbs.) and when she looked in the mirror she liked to be able to see her "abs". Girl I swear, you have to have toned abdominal muscles in order to actually SEE them. So at the photo shoot the girls had to wear bikinis and when Anna's turn came up, the photographer and creative director had issues with only seeing bones on her. When you turn your back to me and I can actually see your ribs from the BACK, I'm more likely to think you've been starving for awhile, not that you're model material. I'm sorry but any "model" that looks emaciated is just sad.

At the elimination Anna was the first to go, because of her unhealthy body image. Tyra told her that she and the judges thought Anna would be sending that unhealthy message to a lot of young girls, and that there are a LOT of thin models in the industry but that Anna was "thinner than thin". I had to applaud the panel on their decision because Anna clearly has some body image issues. It's sad to say that the biggest part on her was her ego.

So thank you ANTM, and yes, thank you Tyra for not allowing such destructive imagery of the stereotypical "thin high fashion model" to further influence our young women into wreaking havoc on their bodies just to "fit in".

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